Wataru Fujii, DDS, DMSc, Izumi Kondo, MD, DMSc, Mikoto Baba, MD, DMSc, Eiichi Saitoh,
MD, DMSc, Seiko Shibata, MD, DMSc, Sumiko Okada, SLP, DMSc, Keiko Onogi, MD, DMSc,
Hideki Mizutani, DDS, DMSc
Jpn J Compr Rehabil Sci 2: 48-53, 2011
Objective: To determine whether aging influences the
position of the leading edge of the bolus during chew
swallow as identified using videofluorography (VF).
Methods: Subjects comprising 53 healthy individuals
(35 men and 18 women; mean age of 54.5 ± 19.3 years
and range of 25-89 years), were subdivided into 4
groups: young adults, middle age, sixties, and seventy
and over. Subjects underwent lateral VF to evaluate
the position of the leading edge of the bolus just prior
to the onset of swallowing, with normal chew swallow
for solid foods and swallowing on command for
liquids.
Results: For solid foods, the position of the leading
edge of the bolus during chewing changed with
increasing age. Mastication time and the number of
chew cycles increased with increasing age and were
much higher in women than in men for the seventy
and over group.
Conclusion: For solid foods, the position of the
leading edge of the bolus during chewing in the
pharynx changed with increasing age; this may affect
the number of chew cycles and increasing age. Gender
may also affect both of these factors, with women
tending to show a deeper transition of the bolus into
the pharynx.
Key words: aging, deglutition, chewing, Stage II transport